Allison Gibson

Exploring the Service and Support Needs of Families With Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease

Although often cast as a disease of later life, a growing number of people are being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in their 50s and 60s. Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (EOAD) poses special challenges and needs for individuals and their caregivers, such as employment and access to services. In this cross-sectional study, the researchers surveyed 81 (N = 81) family caregivers to individuals with EOAD to identify service and support usage and need. Descriptive analyses revealed that families utilized a range of formal services (eg, adult day) and informal support from family and friends. In terms of challenges and needs, participants indicated that they struggled most with employment, benefits, and financial issues. Although most caregivers felt that they were coping well, they also indicated that their needs were not well understood by service providers and the public. These findings highlight the need to better understand and respond to the specific issues surrounding EOAD.

Difficult Diagnoses: Family Caregivers’ Experiences During and Following the Diagnostic Process for Dementia

Diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and adequately connecting families with information and supportive services continue to be challenging processes. Definitive diagnoses can take months and there is often little in place to systematically link families with community organizations. In this brief descriptive study, the researchers examined family caregivers’ (N = 106) experiences with these processes. While specialists and sophisticated tests were often used, 58% of caregivers reported that a definitive diagnosis still took 3 months or longer, with 12% waiting more than 1 year. Caregivers also indicated that they were not provided with adequate information about the disease or about community resources both at the time of diagnosis and 1-year following the diagnosis. These findings suggest that there is ample opportunity to improve services offered to families affected by ADRD and that additional training, coordination, and cooperation may enhance our ability to help during and following the diagnosis.

The Case for the Perceived Social Competence Scale II

Objective: This study examines the psychometric properties of the revised Perceived Social Competence Scale (PSCS), a brief, user-friendly tool used to assess social competence among youth. Method: Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) examined the factor structure and invariance of an enhanced scale (PSCS-II), among a sample of 420 youth. Correlations between PSCS-II and self-reported social skill scores were examined. A longitudinal CFA tested the invariance of the factor structure over time with a different sample of 451 youth. Results: The revised 5-item PSCS-II demonstrated acceptable factorial validity, factorial invariance across time and gender as well as strong predictive validity. Conclusion: The PSCS-II was supported as a strengthened version of the PSCS to measure social competence in social work research and practice.

Living Alone With Cognitive Impairment: Findings From the National Health and Aging Trends Study

Although most individuals experiencing cognitive impairment (CI) reside with a caregiver, an estimated 800,000 live alone. Such individuals may have an increased risk for injury to self or others through self-neglect as a result of the CI symptoms. While persons living alone with CI have been identified as an important area for needed research, few studies have been able to examine this population due to the challenges of identifying and recruiting study participants. By using the National Health & Aging Trends Study data set, the researchers explored the characteristics to describe this population. The results of this study indicated that the majority of persons living with CI were older, widowed females who were not diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia but tested positive on cognitive screening measures. Further, the majority of persons living alone with CI relied on adult children and paid professionals as the primary care providers.

Health, Illness, and Optimal Aging: Biological and Psychological Perspectives (2nd ed.)

An update to the 2003 original release, Health, Illness and Optimal Aging, provides a modernized revision to promoting foundational knowledge to students on topics in aging. The text, which primarily focuses on biological and physiological aspects of aging, is ideal for graduate students or upper-level undergraduate students, yet is still comprehensive enough to be effective in both discipline-specific social work classes, as well as multidisciplinary settings. The text flows well from one topic to the next and provides detailed understanding to aging processes without overburdening the reader. By utilizing fundamental theories to discuss prominent issues for today’s older adults, the text allows for students to grasp important concepts but also to begin critical thinking about the implications these issues have for the aging population. The first section of the book provides a framework for the text by discussing fundamental knowledge by exploring the demographic, theoretical, and methodological issues of aging. By first examining the diverse demography of aging in the United States, the text details the country’s changing demographics—particularly within the upcoming cohort of older adults, before moving to discuss the international perspective. Soon thereafter, the biological and psychological theories of aging are introduced with an interesting discourse on the interrelationships among these theories, before finishing out the section with a chapter on understanding the concept of change in aging research. Beyond discussing the emergence of analytical techniques for longitudinal research, the chapter also discusses the benefits to such research as well as the challenges to interpreting these often complex analyses. The second section of the book introduces the aging of biological systems in a clear and concise manner through discussing how aging impacts the skin, musculoskeletal system, internal organ systems, sensory and nervous systems, and endocrine and immune systems. Perhaps one of the central chapters in this text is the last one of this section, which focuses in on functional health, health promotion, and quality of life. Through reviewing the limitations of biological, social and psychological health, the text

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND PARTICIPATION OF PERSONS LIVING ALONE WITH COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

and individualized nursing teaching, psychological counseling, and community rehabilitation, etc. The whole process lasted for 1 year. The scales of Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI), symptom checklist 90(SCL-90), and the WHO of quality of life scale (WHOQOL-BREF) were performed before and after intervention in two groups. Results: 1 years later, ZBI of the CG had no significant difference (P>0.05), while ZBI of the EG decreased significantly (P<0.05). There was a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). The finding indicated that the AD caregivers burden of the EG was relieved compared with the CG. The SCL-90 score of the CG was increased compared with before intervention (P < 0.05), while the SCL-90 score of the EG was decreased (P < 0.05). The statistically difference between the two groups were found (P < 0.05), which revealed that 1 years later the psychological burden of the EG was lighter than that of the CG. Compared with before intervention, the WHOQOL-BREF score of the CG was decreased significantly (P<0.05), while the WHOQOL-BREF score of the EG increased (P<0.05). There were statistical differences between the two groups (P<0.05), which showed that the quality of life of the EG was higher than that of the CG. Conclusions: The extended nursing based on “time it right” theory can obviously reduce the burden of caregivers of AD patient, improve their mental status and improve their quality of life.